Book Buds Kidlit Reviews

Making whoopie

Oh, probably someone has blogged about this already, but have you checked out Ten Speed Press' revamped website? And gotten your free whoopie cushion?

Their kids' imprint is Tricycle Press, a favorite and not just because they were early supporters of this site.

They're one of the better-known indie publishers, with a list that includes stuff for grown-ups like What Color is Your Parachute and my favorite vegetarian cook, Mollie Katzen.

From their press release:

One of the last, fiercely independent major publishers (Ggrr!) in the United States, Ten Speed Press was founded by Philip Wood in Berkeley, California. In 1971, Phil launched the company with one title: Anybody's Bike Book, which inspired the company's name and went on to sell more than a million copies. TRUE STORY: Phil originally stored the books in his apartment bathtub, thus giving rise to the popular nursery rhyme, "Rub-a-dub-dub, three Anybody's Bike Books in a tub."

To celebrate their 35th birthday (they insist they don't look a day over 29), they're giving away free whoopie cushions if you buy from them online.

Here's their pitch:

Will you marry us? We've been good to you all these years. We've looked after you through thick and thin. We make good money and have a sweet pad in Berkeley, California (plus some nice digs up in Toronto!). Besides, we look good in a dust jacket.

The world needs more whoopie, as we all know. So g'head, splurge. Tell 'em I sentcha.

You're never alone in The Forest

After a summer hiatus, that fabulous online look at the world of kidlit is back at The Edge of the Forest. Thanks to Kelly who puts it all together. Yours truly only contributed a few picture book reviews this time, but there's always good stuff from the rest of the blogging gang.

Plus, I can't help but notice there's always at least one newcomer with each issue.

Geez, where do you all come from? You'd think reading kids books was childplay or something. Humph.

PANIC!

We finished our drive from California to Chicago without killing each other. Three adults, two kids in carseats and roughly 900 pieces of luggage. Somehow, I still can't find pajamas for Lael or more than one book to review. Exactly one. And that has to do me until our stuff shows up sometime in mid-September.

Lessee ... I have a couple of DVDs I can look at, and I got an email press release or two, which, if other bloggers haven't done so first, I'll get around to posting about. And even if they have, because what else am I to do?

My mother-in-law, bless her heart, abandoned us after we literally drove her crazy, and is now staying with her sister in a suburb. We're all holed up at an Extended Stay Sardine Can in Skokie, where we'll be climbing the walls until Sept. 1.

The good news is that the very first Mommy friend I made out here is also a wannabe writer, SCBWI member and hosts a writing group in her home -- a mere two blocks from where we plan to live. Things are looking up.

Even so, I'm bracing for the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month on Book Buds, even with Deb Clark providing valuable assistance from time to time.

I'll post when I can. Gulp.

POETRY FRIDAY Givin' Them Some Culture, Darnit

Carnival of the Animals: Poems Inspired by Saint-Saëns’ Music

edited by Judith Chernaik; illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura

reviewed by Deb Clark

In my favorite mom-fantasy, I take my kids to an art museum – perhaps the Getty or the Norton Simon – and we spend an enjoyable afternoon taking in the beauty and wonder of the works on display. This dream remains unfulfilled because I know what my 4-year-old and toddler would really do the moment we set foot in the door – whine, complain and spiral into total breakdown until I agree to leave immediately and take them to Chuck E. Cheese.

I was reminded of my museum fantasy when I read this book of poems inspired by 19th-century composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ orchestral work, Carnival of the Animals. Different poets contributed poems for each of 14 movements (I thought this a daring feat given that Ogden Nash already had done it quite famously until a search of Amazon.com revealed the glut of poetry and prose inspired by Saint-Saëns’ piece).

The style of the poems – and their accessibility to young children – vary with the poet. All are short and feature animals engaged in some type of action, as in Cherniak’s contribution:

Tortoise

Under the mottled shell of the old tortoise
beats the heart of a young dancer.

She dreams of twirling on tabletops,
turning cartwheels,
kicking up her heels at the Carnival ball.

“Oh, who will kiss my cold and wrinkled lips,
and set my dreaming spirit free?”

Watercolor illustrations match the tone of each poem, some radiant with vibrant colors and movement – the tortoises appear to be boogying down on the tables of some wild, turtle disco – while others use few hues and exude a tranquil stillness. A CD features a reading of each poem followed by the accompanying musical passage.

It’s the kind of book I wish my kids would embrace. I love that it introduces them to poetry, to music, to the beauty of well-chosen words. For that I hope to read it to them over and over. And I will try not to be disappointed when they instead clamor for yet another recitation of 5-Minute Princess Stories.

Rating: *\*\*\

Workbooks for fun

Simple Spelling, Giant Sticker Activity Work Book and Activity Work Book.
Priddy Books

Reviewed by Brett Levy of DadTalk

Until a teacher in the fourth grade gave me crap about my (still) awful penmanship, I enjoyed learning how to write. I always found it fun trying to make an “a” or “q” within the lines on that funky-colored paper most of us at some point practiced on.

Today, learning to write can be more fun than ever, especially with all the colorful workbooks to choose from. Three sitting on my desk fit the bill.

The most sedate of the trio, Simple Spelling, gets back to basics. In the first few pages your child can trace each letter over and over by just wiping off the dry-erase ink. The latter pages are simple fill-in-the-blank letters to practice letter writing and spelling.

My only gripe is that the black pen wasn’t attached to the book by some sort of string. Despite the strange look I got from my wife, I linked the pen to the internal spiral binder with dental floss. (Hey, I didn’t have any yarn around.) Also, Simple Spelling doesn’t come with a cleaning cloth, which resulted in piles of dirty tissues floating on the bedroom floor after an hour of practicing.

The Giant Sticker Activity Work Book is bright and fun to use. Tykes can practice their letters, sketch animals or navigate mazes. And stickers are always popular.

While I’m sure this isn’t a real flaw, my son won’t use this work book because he can’t erase the ink – you have to provide your own pen here – after drawing the letters. I guess using Simple Spelling first generated higher expectations. Still, this book is chock-full of learning activities that will keep kids busy for hours.

The Activity Work Book is the most challenging of the trio, because it offers the widest variety of activities. A child can learn how to spell and draw a dinosaur on the same page. The book includes mazes, letter practice, simple math and word searches.

The book includes blue, red and green dry-erase pens with a cotton cleaning cloth, but the flimsy plastic pen cover doesn’t stay on. This made it difficult to keep the pens together with the book.

The Activity Work Book is labeled for kids over 3, but to this parent it seems far more difficult than Simple Spelling, which claims to be for children over 4. I would swap the two ratings.

Final note: it may just be me, but these books – which are loaded with trucks, cars, dinosaurs and sailboats – seem male centric. There are plenty of farm animals, flowers and stuffed bears for girls to enjoy, but the imbalance is noticeable. Still, I wouldn’t hesitate to give these books to my daughter to enjoy once she’s old enough.

Rating: *\*\*\

Hair It Is

Clara’s Gift from the Heart
by Mary-Kyle Douglas; illustrated by Lisa Victoria

Melissa Parkington’s Beautiful, Beautiful Hair
by Pat Brisson; illustrated by Suzanne Bloom

reviewed by Deb Clark

I was surprised to come across not one, but two books about little girls with long, beautiful hair who decide to donate their flowing locks to make wigs for children who are bald as a result of illness. It seemed an odd premise for a children’s story, but a nice way to encourage kids to help others.

After reading the books, it occurred to me that when it comes to encouraging philanthropy, some approaches are more inspiring than others.

Both books begin with young girls who are admired for their lovely, shiny hair.

In Clara’s Gift from the Heart, the title character decides to stop brushing her hair because it hurts too much. Pen-and-ink illustrations in bold colors show in sticky detail how her wavy blonde mane soon becomes home to all manner of gooey candy, gummy food and even some “ugly gnomes and grouchy leprechauns.”

When her friends make fun of her, Clara fruitlessly searches for the courage to brush her hair. A fairy alerts her to the idea of donating her hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit that provides wigs to children (and gets a portion of the proceeds from this book). Clara does donate her hair, but not before yelling at all the food and creatures to get out – which inexplicably works. And then her friends think she’s cool again.

The title character of Melissa Parkington’s Beautiful, Beautiful Hair is infinitely more reasonable and her motivations far more admirable. Melissa wants to be noticed not for her striking raven locks but for her accomplishments. So she sets out to do something spectacular. She ends up striving to be the kindest person in town by doing all sorts of good deeds for others.

Her goal makes donating her hair is a no-brainer. “My hair’s still beautiful,” she tells her dad at bedtime that night. “It’s just going to be beautiful on somebody else’s head.” Soft-edged illustrations in watercolor, colored pencil and crayon accompany the smooth text.

Both books end with the same laudable message, but the paths they take to get there are strikingly different. One is a strange stew of magical creatures, illogical actions (didn’t that girl own a bottle of shampoo?), and less-than-noble motives. The other is a straightforward, charming story of a girl who discovers joy in helping others. I know which one I want my children to internalize.

Rating: *\*\

When cats fly

Caramba
by Marie-Louise Gay

While other felines fly, Caramba's solidly earthbound. Poor kitty, stuck on the ground while his cousins hover and heckle. His friend, Portia, tries to cheer him up, but she's a pig, and everybody knows they can't fly.

In this delightful bit of nonsense, Caramba sets out on the inevitable journey to do the impossible and get his furry butt airborne. Now, you might think that this is a "message" book about persistence and believing in yourself. You'd be only half right.

After doing a few face plants in the grass and in grandpa's lap, Caramba discovers to his delight that he has quite a different talent. His propeller tail works underwater, and he can paddle about with the fishies, even if "everybody knows" cats can't swim.

The illustrations are in watercolor, pencil and pastel, with squiggly, wiggly figures against wide swathes of washed-out color for a frantic, zany effect.

I saw Gay at the L.A. Times bookfest in April, where she was on a panel with other kidlitters, and besides her lilting French Canadian accent, I was struck by her impish smile. It told me she  had something clever and amusing and a probably bit subversive going through her head at lightening speed.

Reading this story, I believe it more than ever.

Rating: *\*\*\

Stuff to munch on

Cookies: Bit-Size Life Lessons
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; illustrated by Jane Dyer

I miss baking already. Okay, I only packed the muffin tins and cookie sheets the other day. But still.

Everybody has a favorite baking-with-kids story, or pics of batter-encrusted clothes and chocolatey grins. If there's a more scrumptious way to occupy an hour or so, I haven't heard of it. Plus, there's all that stuff about developing fine motor skills, measuring and counting, following directions and patience -- none of which I'm particularly good at either.

So for the next few weeks, I can only mourn the warm, buttery smells that wafted through my soon-to-be empty house and flip through two scrumptious books about kids and baking.

The first is Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons that features the usual precocious tots and anthropomorphized animals serving up some lessons on getting along with each batch of tollhouse. Every page introduces a term such as "cooperate" or "proud" and it's cookie-related definition:

RESPECT means offering the very first cookie to your grandmother.

TRUSTWORTHY means, if you ask me to hold your cookie until you come back, when you come back, I will still be holding your cookie.

In the latter, an Asian girl bites her lip and stares longingly at the dessert in her hand while her horsie friend pokes his snout through the door. Precious.

Dyer's water colors are sharply executed, with a delicious range of expressions on both kids and pets, each telling their own stories of envy, pride and affection.

Rating: *\*\

My Pop Pop and Me
by Irene Smalls; illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson

Smalls offers up a different, delectable tidbit with this paean to a grandpa who's a whiz with a whisk. The African-American boy in the story spends an afternoon whipping up a lemon cake and making the usual mess with great flair.

Slurp slurp I chirp a burp
Scrape scrape the dough, no escape

Besides the sound effects, the boy seems to jump into a fantasy world where a tiny version holds up an enormous carton of milk or dash around a food scale or appear in several places at once, a whir of activity.

Muted colors and rounded shapes create a warm feel even as eggs break and the batter slops. I love making a mess and so do these two; except they seem better about cleaning up. There's even a recipe for Lemon Bar Cake on the end pages.

Yum.

Rating: *\*\